The released time program in New York schools, which excuses children one hour weekly from public school classes to attend outside religious classes, is a violation of American Constitutional separation of church and state, it is charged in a joint brief filed with the N.Y. State Court of Appeals today by the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.
The organizations are appearing as amices curiae in the case of Tessim Zorach and Esta Gluck versus the Board of Education of the City of New York and the Commission of Education of the State of New York. Tessim Zorach is of the Protestant Episcopal faith, while Esta Gluck is Jewish. The children of both families receive regular instruction after school hours at religious schools of their respective creeds. The parents are seeking to have the courts declare the New York City released time program unconstitutional.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
